Old-Salt

Depends on your definition of tactical torch, mate. Some consider red light to be dimmer, but it is actually more visible from further away. The onloy advantage of red light is that it does not make as much of a pigs ear of your night vision. BUT you cant map read with it. Best bet is to get yourself a AA maglite (black one of course) and the rubber neck filter kit, so you can take the red lense on and off - so use the red lense in harbour areas (only if you REALLY need light of course) and when you need to stop on a patrol to map read use white light, shut your right (aiming) eye, and get others to group around you to shield the light from view.
To be honest there is no such thing as a tactical torch, and almost all light will get you shot at. Your best bet is to have good recce, proper rehearsals, a good tactical model and (in harbour areas) not leave your kit everywhere. If you are worried about not being able to find your pit at night after coming off stag, rig up the green string hand rail at waist height and get yourself a trilux arrow from your local surplus store and clip it above your basha.
Mag lites available from Blacks, along with the filter kit and rubber neck. I believe they do a forces discount, so have your MoD 90 handy.

"Everybody knows that six feet of standing corn can stop bullets! Get up and follow me!"

LE

Cover lens with black nasty, make tiny pin prick hole enough to read maps by but not enough to be mistaken for a lighthouse in the desert.

I think this was covered a few months back and a submariner popped up and said ( ) that the subs had done away with red light in the hatch ways at night and just had a dimmer switch for the white light. (please insert commas and full stops where you feel neccesarym and feel free to correct the spelling)

SK

It is better to go skiing and think of God, than go to church and think of sport.
Fridtjof Nansen

Old-Salt

If you want the red light and are too cheap to buy a red filter, try the plastic off a baby bell wrapper, then just black and nasty that around the maglite.
Personaly i prefer pinprick white light, but your section comander probably won't accept it, whatever you do, don't get one of those shite plastic right agled torches that weight a tonne and use D cells...

War Hero

I think this was covered a few months back and a submariner popped up and said ( ) that the subs had done away with red light in the hatch ways at night and just had a dimmer switch for the white light.

LE

Skjold's right, the taped torch with a pinhole is the method taught at Brecon.

However if you want the best of both worlds, try the Code 4 Jr torch, it's switchable from red to white.
Use NSN 6230-01-353-4468 to demand it......
Otherwise there are some surplus stores which stock them.

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Old-Salt

The only way to read a map on patrol is the same as the only way to smoke on patrol. Get a 3 cell aa maglite (as used by NYPD as a cosh) and when you stop, tip everything out of your bergen and stick your head in it for a smoke and / or map check. Easy! As taught to me by the author of Soldier I who seems to have survived in one piece practicing this.

Old-Salt

When i was a young cadet on dartmoor, I had a muppet of a navigator. He almost lead a section into a ravine because he was reading under red light. You shouldn't need light except for reading maps, and the pinprick method is ace. You can use a tiny single AA maglite, and have a 5mm slit in it. If u need extra light, just push slightly on the nasty until it sticks to the lens. It will temporarly open the slit further, then in about 30 secs it comes unstuck, closing the slight to a pinprick again.
Never heard of the bergan method. It would be ******* funny if they came under contact while you had your head in a bag!

Old-Salt

Agreed, not sure Id ever use that method, regardless of its origin
Id forgotten about the pin prick (not usually entrusted with a map y'see - gives me ideas) and yes this works well also. On a different note, short of wandering around like Boris Karloff with your arms outstretched, harbour areas in pitch black forest - white light, red light, blue light, trilux marker arrows and string or just dont faakin' choose such a daft position...

"Everybody knows that six feet of standing corn can stop bullets! Get up and follow me!"

War Hero

Bleedin 'ell! Heads in bergans, taking bergan covers off to hide inside, soldier 'I' giving torch lessons?
Here's Stabtastic's cut out and throw away guide:
Bergan - army issue torch with filters, CQMS can replace it and batteries, and you can use for giving lights, lots of, when needed, or for the NATO T when you're marking the FUP for the Bn (for when the OC wants to impress the CO, or when the guides haven't been able to be briefed, or when the guides are f@ckwits and you've forgotten to brief them - delete as applicable).
Smock - little torch; mini-maglite-type, black tape over the lens with a hole.
Minimise use by learning the route.

When giving orders, crowd in under a poncho if you must, but the sight of an NCO/offr giving orders to me from under a bergan cover ('pardon sir, what was that?') doesn't really do it for me, I have to say...
Now let's have no more nonsense about torches and let's get back to the NAAFI...

I should say that it was a very quick set of orders, all three of us were under the bergen cover, and we could all see the map..... and that we were (for exercise purposes) forward of FLOT in section(+) strength, so the brightly lit 9x9 behind the FFR LR wasn't really an option....

LE

Personally use a combination of the Code 4 pilot's torch and a mini maglite with a tiny slit in it.

The code 4 is a great piece of kit, built from black knurled aluminium like a maglite but has an rubber on/off switch, integral lanyard loop and a built in diffused red filter. The filter itself is bolted to the perspex at the business end and is put in and out of use by pushing the end bezel in and out from the main torch body. Because it has diffused red light it knackers your night vision even less and also is less likely to be clocked by those you don't want to see it. Combine this with a maglite with a black nastied slit over the perspex and your map reading difficulties are over. I found that a bit of precision and a stanley knife works best cutting your slit before you apply it to the maglite works best.

If you're wanting a beast of a beacon that can still be used "Tactically" try a red PALite. This bugger uses an LED plugged into a 9v battery and can be seen for miles when on High Intensity (2 Hours) or Strobe (20 Hours) Settings but also has a nice soft light that can be used when on the default "Always On" mode (2 years) and a slightly brighter setting which is about the same as a maglite with a red filter (200 Hours). Brilliant piece of kit, I think H3 products (formerly Traser) are still fligging these in Red, Blue, White, Green and Infra Red variants.